Archive for February, 2005
Facts and figures on adoption rates of electronic filing: Difference between patents and trademarks is huge
The FY2006 budget request for the United States Patent and Trademark Office includes some amazing statistics on adoption rates for electronic filing:
For 2004 (estimated figures), a full 75% of trademark applications were filed electronically — three of every four. On the patent side, only 4% were filed through the Electronic FIling System (EFS).
I’ve always [...]
2006 Budget Request: $80M for “electronic process for patent applications”
According to Government Computer News, President Bush’s FY2006 budget request includes $80M for the Patent Automation System to develop an electronic process for patent applications.
What in the world does that mean? On first glance, this snippet gave me hope that an improved electronic filing system (EFS) is on the way (I’m looking for reasons [...]
PHOSITA named best legal blog
InsideBlogging recently announced its 2005 Business Blogging Awards. PHOSITA was named the best legal blog. This is well-deserved recognition for Doug Sorocco, the king PHOSITA himself. Join me in congratulating Doug for this award.
IP blogs are establishing a track record with the various blog awards out there. Remember, Dennis Kennedy named [...]
Mark clarification bill reintroduced
Representative Mike Simpson (ID) introduced H.R. 784 (.pdf) on February 10, 2005. The bill, dubbed A bill to Clarify that service marks, collective marks, and certification marks are entitled to the same protections, rights, and privileges of trademarks, is identical to S. 2796/H.R. 5194 introduced in the 108th Congress.
I haven’t been able to locate [...]
Trilateral offices build support for “first package” approach to patent law harmonization discussions
The United States, Japan and Europe are working to overhaul the mechanism by which patent law harmonization discussions are held. These countries recently received critical support for their joint proposal to change the course of harmonization discussions.
The US Patent and Trademark Office, along with other participants from the recent Exploratory Meeting of Interested Parties Concerning the [...]
Welcome Toledo Patent Law Association
We are blessed in the Toledo area to have a very friendly patent bar and an active association of patent professionals, the Toledo Patent Law Association (TPLA). For decades, TPLA has kept an active calendar of meetings with fascinating speakers, including local business people, representatives of the Patent and Trademark Office, and federal judges, [...]
Big firm blogs….Not passionate, but good for the blawgosphere
Dennis Kennedy has a wonderful post today that explores the question: Is There Still Room for Small Firm or Solo Lawyer Blogs? He asks the question as part of his By Request Tuesday feature and in light of the recent focus on blogging by big firms. I was glad to learn that [...]
Legal Underground on Legal Tech
David Swanner of the South Carolina Trial Law Blog has posted his list of Twelve Ways Technology Can Make You a Better Trial Lawyer as a guest contributor to the Notes from the (Legal) Underground blog. I think the post is interesting from a general perspective for two reasons:
First, five of the dozen items [...]
Indian reforms continue: Intellectual Property ‘Infrastructure’ next?
India is in the midst of a radical overhaul of its patent system, largely due to the yet-to-be finalized amendments to its patent law that extend patent protection to products, including pharmaceuticals. According to this article about a recent meeting organized by the Indian commerce ministry in association with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) [...]
RSS 101 Screencast
If you’re new to the world of blogs and you have questions about the whole RSS thing, please check out this RSS 101 Screencast from Alex Barnett. In just a few minutes, Alex delivers a wonderful visual tutorial on getting started with RSS.
To get started with intellectual property blogs and RSS, I recommend viewing [...]
